A couple of years ago, we were in Disney World with two of our grandchildren when ten-year-old Drew realized he didn't have his wallet. We hoofed it back to the restaurant where we'd just eaten, inspected around the table, but nothing. We checked with the park's lost and found, but it wasn't there. It was lost. So we decided to accept it and move on.

It's easy to move on when you're in Disney World.

A couple of weeks after we got home, Drew's wallet arrived in my mailbox, money intact, with a note: "I hope your grandson didn't miss this too much."  

It wasn't much money, or a fine wallet, but it was so uplifting to "find" something we thought was forever lost. And, by the way, Jordan, whoever you are, I think you're a very cool person with a very good heart.

I've lost a few important things in my life, most notably my wedding ring. I removed it on a hot day when my fingers were swollen and I thought for sure I dropped it into the abyss of my purse. Disappeared. Nowhere to be found. Gone.

As losses go, a ring -- no matter how sentimental -- is a small one. As I've gotten older, I've noticed that losses come along no matter how we try to deny, dodge, or disguise them. Some of them are rock-your-world losses and some come quietly, tiptoeing up behind you like a pickpocket.

For a totally random example, let's take...getting older. Maybe it's because I'm of that arrogant generation that disdained authority and thought anyone over 30 was the enemy, but somewhere along the way, I got the idea that I would always be young. But, let me tell you, evidence to the contrary is growing.

I can admit there's some vanity going on here. Or maybe it's just that I don't want to give up. I've seen people who have and it makes me sad and a little mad. Anyway, I've heard it said that old age is always fifteen years older than you are.

Yeah...that works for me.

I've looked at some of the women in the Bible to get some tips from them, and there are some inspiring ones, for sure. But the person I really like is Caleb, who was on the scene at the time of Moses and Joshua. When he was eighty-five, he proclaimed to have the strength he had at forty. He wasn't rocking in a chair thinking about the old glory days, he was scoping out new territory and exclaiming, "Give me this mountain." Awesome.

I think I'm ambivalent about growing old, because there was a point in my life when I wondered if I was about to get my passport stamped for heaven. I wondered if I would have the chance to get old. That was ten years ago.

Therefore, I am grateful and thankful to be here, and I'm hoping to make friends with this aging process. I'd like to do it in a way that demonstrates faith and grace, and pleases God.

Right now, I'm focused on a strict daily routine. I walk daily with the Lord, spending time in His Word. I think that's called working on my core.

Laura Z. Sowers

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